API Ethics Statement

Agreement with this statement will be a necessary requirement for other investigators to receive case information from API. Note that we will not share any Personally Identifying Information (PII) about any witness unless the witness agrees in advance.

If you have any questions at all about our ethical policies, please feel free to contact us.

Values and Priorities

  1. The well-being of the witness is paramount.
  2. We protect the privacy and anonymity of witnesses, in the hope this will encourage all prospective witnesses to share their experiences without anxiety for their reputation or career prospects.
  3. We believe in openly sharing well-verified data, so long as it does not conflict with 1 and 2 above.
  4. We help our witnesses by anchoring their narratives in fact.

Ethical Practices

  1. We rigorously protect our witnesses privacy and anonymity. We will not use any witness PII in any publication, presentation, or media production.
  2. We will inform witnesses when we are making an audio or video recording of an interview.
  3. We will use recordings of the witness speaking for public presentation or podcasts only with their permission.
  4. We will not knowingly do anything that increases the risk of false memories or narratives rooted in fantasy. In particular, we do not perform or recommend memory regression therapy, which we know is unreliable and can lead to false memories.
  5.  We will listen respectfully and avoid making judgments about the witness’s condition, and we will not misrepresent ourselves as qualified to help witnesses with emotional, physical or mental health issues. We will encourage witnesses to seek professional help for any health issues.
  6. We will not jump to conclusions about a case, and we will be honest with the witness about our uncertainties. It is not our purpose to use the case to further a particular belief system or narrative about the phenomena in question.
  7. We will not ask our witnesses for money at any point in the investigation, regardless of expenses.
  8. We will not sell a witnesses’ case file or story for any purpose. If such an offer should come our way, we will forward it to the witness for their disposition.
  9. We will share cases with other responsible organizations only if they have an acceptable public ethics statement and agree to non-disclosure of the witness PII.
  10. Upon request, we will provide the witness with their entire case file, or at least the portion that pertains exclusively to them. They may share this file with whomever they choose.
  11. We will not remove anything from an investigation site without permission of the property owner, or local governmental or tribal authorities.
  12. We will comply with all applicable laws in the conduct of our investigations.
  13. We will not use the witness’ e-mail for marketing or soliciting donations, and we will not sell or rent a list of witness e-mail addresses or other contact information to any third party.
  14. Information we make public will be as accurate and factual as we can make it, and we will be honest about our doubts and uncertainties.
  15. We are always open to changing our minds, and if we made a mistake we will admit it without hesitation.

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